Before upgrading from Domino 7.x to Domino 8.x, it is recommended that you do the following:

1. Ensure that database clean-up is completed by doing the following on the Domino 7.x server to help avoid database and/or view corruption. It is recommended to run the commands with the server down.

* Run Fixup (consistency checks) against all databases

Fixup -f -j -v -l

NOTE:
-f Exhaustive fixup, all documents are checked.
-j Include transaction logged databases. Without this option, fixup does not check logged databases.
-v Exclude database views (faster) for all views that will be rebuilt by updall later, no need to check view at this moment.
-l Log all processed databases (optional).

If you are running transaction logging, be sure to use the -b switch. This is different than the upper case -B switch as -B will change the DBIID of any transactionally logged databases.

2. Because Domino 8 is scaled to handle more users concurrently, it is recommended that any stabilizing NOTES.INI parameters, such as the following, be removed or commented out of the NOTES.INI:

SERVER_SESSION_TIMEOUT

SERVER_MAXSESSIONS
SERVER_MAXUSERS

3. Investigate compatibility of third party applications and companion products with Domino 8.

Steps for Upgrading

After database clean-up is completed, migrate as follows:

* Install the Domino 8 Administrator client in order to administer the Domino 8 server.
* Upgrade the Domino domain Administration server (Administration Server listed in ACL of the names.nsf) and the Domino Directory design to Domino 8.
* Replicate the Domino Directory to the other servers. Note: It is recommended to replicate ONLY the 8.x Domino Directory design elements to 7.x and 8.x servers.

Once the Domino server upgrade installation is completed, do not start the Domino server. Run the following commands to upgrade the Domino domain Administration server's names.nsf and complete initial maintenance from a command line. (Note: It is also recommended to upgrade the admin4.nsf):

1. Run design task

design -f names.nsf
design -f admin4.nsf

Note: Domino 8.x names.nsf template includes new system views. If the template is not updated, the server can experience system slowdowns. This is documented in technote This is documented in SPR ATHS7DPLHM and the technote "Performance problems after upgrading from Domino 7.x to 8.0.1" (#1304915).

NOTE: -f Synchronizes a specific database

Note: Please read and follow this excerpt from the Notes/Domino 8.0.x release notes.

Rebuild system views in the Domino Directory after upgrading
There are several views in the Domino Directory (NAMES.NSF) which use the Unicode standard collation, and which must be rebuilt immediately after upgrading to Domino 8. The IBM Lotus Domino server knows the collation versions, and automatically rebuilds the view indexes when the server needs to use them.

When the Domino server starts, it needs to access two important views, $Users and $ServerAccess. The server stops and waits for these views to rebuild. If the Domino Directory is a large file, rebuilding the two views requires a substantial amount of time. After upgrading to Domino 8, during the first server restart the server may stop while waiting for the views to rebuild. During this time, the server console will display initial information regarding the Domino server.

This process has been tested using a Domino Directory containing 17,000 users. Rebuilding (reindexing) the views required approximately 40 minutes during the initial server restart after upgrade. This test was performed on the platforms listed below. Note that the time requirements varied slightly by platform.
o Microsoft Windows 2003 server
o IBM AIX
o Linux
o i5/OS

If you upgrade to Domino 8 and your Domino Directory contains 10,000 users or more, plan ahead for view updating. You can use the UPDALL program to update the index offline, and then place it on the server. On Microsoft Windows platforms, enter this command

nupdall -r names.nsf

For more information about using the UPDALL program, see the Domino 8 Administrator documentation.

2. Run fixup task

fixup names.nsf-f -j -v -l
fixup admin4.nsf.nsf-f -j -v -l

3. Run compact task

compact names.nsf -c -i
compact admin4.nsf.nsf -c -i

Note: The ODS level will not be upgraded unless a copy style compact is run on each server (not just the administration server).

4. Run updall task

updall names.nsf -RX
updall admin4.nsf -RX

Note: There will be an initial significant index rebuild performance hit on ALL databases. Please read the following excerpt from the Notes/Domino 8.0.x release notes:

Rebuilding of the database design collections
To correct a potential defect, a one time rebuild of the design collection for each database will occur when either the design task or the index task is run on the database. If view events are being logged (LOG_VIEW_EVENTS=1), messages related to this activity may be observed on the console, and in log.nsf. For example:

Databases will still be accessible while this rebuild is happening, but noticeable resource contention may be seen. It may be advantageous to run the index updater against your databases with the server down, where possible.

5. Start the Domino server.

Note: If you are running any third-party applications that use the 7.x Domino Directory design, do not replicate the design of the Domino Directory to those servers until the Domino 8 Design has been certified by the third-party vendor.

* Upgrade the Hub servers.
* Upgrade the Mail servers.
* Upgrade the SMTP servers.
* Upgrade the Web servers.
* Upgrade the Application servers.
* Any third-party/companion product server (check for Domino 8 readiness).
* Upgrade the database format by converting the .NSF format on the applications or mail files by running the Compact command on the Domino 8 server. Refer to the Special Notes section below for more information.
* Upgrade the general population of Notes Client users to Notes 8.

Note: If you are upgrading your executives to the Notes 8 client, upgrade their assistants to Notes 8 at the same time. This will alleviate any limitations when managing calendars.

DO NOT upgrade the mail file templates before upgrading the user's Notes 8.x client

* Replace the design of any database/mail files with any new Notes 8 design changes last. For mail files, the Convert command should be run on the Domino 8 server to upgrade the design of the mail file. Do NOT use the Designer task to upgrade the design of the mail file.

For more information on using the Convert task see the topic, "Upgrading mail files with the mail conversion utility" in the Notes/Domino 8.0.x release notes.

Special notes

For Converting the Database Applications

For databases that you do not want converted to the new Domino 8 format when Compact runs on the Domino 8 server, pull a new local replica of the database with an .NS6 extension. Renaming the file extension at the operating system prompt will not prevent the database from being converted.

Note: In Notes 7.x the ODS did not change; thus, the NS6 will keep the database at 43.

Refer also to the technotes:

"Databases created with an ODS-specific extension are not upgraded by Compact task" (#1086780)

"On-Disk Structure (ODS) version for Notes/Domino 8 and how is it enabled" (#1267844)

Page 60 of the IBM Redbook Lotus Notes and Domino 8 Deployment Guide , explains how to upgrade the ODS and benefits. It is listed as "highly recommended" to upgrade the ODS AFTER the Administrator ensures that the Domino server is stable at the new Domino 8 code level.

Note: The ODS level will not be upgraded unless a copy style compact is run on each server (not just the administration server).

For Calendar and Scheduling (C&S) in Mixed Environments

Meeting workflow is fully supported between Notes 8 and Notes 7. You do not need to be on a certain 6.x release or mail template to schedule meetings between Notes 8.x and Notes 6.x. If Calendar & Scheduling is in iCalendar (MIME) format, then all mail servers including any SMTP servers must be at a Domino 8.x release level. For more information about iCalendar and Domino, refer to the technote, "Support for iCalendar and vCard in Domino" (#1102862) .